Premiere: Efin, Barbin at Podium Bloos

Finally, Barbin. is a multimedia performance in which performer Marleen Hendrickx brings to life the 19th-century French intersex Herculine Barbin. Through dance, projection, and light-hearted play, she liberates Herculine's experiences from the compulsive attempts to classify them as male or female.

The starting point is Herculine's memoirs, in which she describes how she was legally declared a man after a secret relationship with a female colleague. Over a century later, philosopher Michel Foucault discovers these memoirs and publishes them along with medical reports, a romanticized version by the German psychiatrist Oskar Panizza, and his own reflections. In this way, three men mercilessly assert their voice over Herculine.

With Enfin, Barbin. Marleen Hendrickx restores control to the rightful owner. At last, Herculine speaks for herself. In one movement, Marleen shifts between herself, Herculine, Panizza, and Foucault. Glitter beard and moustache remain attached to her body, as if their male gaze cannot be entirely erased. Simultaneously, the performance references contemporary drag culture.

Thus, Marleen offers Herculine what she herself received after coming out as intersex: love, a queer family, and applause. But above all: the right to celebrate yourself, especially when the world sees you as a problem.